1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a container for barley to be steeped, with a floor that is provided with passageways for passing water between the underside of the floor and the barley to be steeped in the container.
2. Background Description
As known to the expert, brewing beer requires that barley be cleaned and steeped prior to the malting process, wherein the barley grains are moved to more or less of an extent in order to germinate. Known here is the use of a so-called steeping cistern provided with a double, flat floor. The top floor of the double floor is here perforated, wherein the perforated passageways are small enough to prevent barley grains brought from above onto the top floor of the double floor from passing through these perforated passageways. The distance between the two floors of the double floor normally measures at least about 80 cm.
While the barley is cleaned and steeped in the known steeping cistern, the barley is introduced into the cistern on the top floor of the double floor. In the steeping cistern, the barley is subjected to a treatment primarily involving two alternating and repeating phases. During the first phase, the barley is supplied with water via the double floor, wherein not just the barley, but also the dual floor is submerged under the water. Also referred to as the wet steeping phase, this phase typically lasts about 2 to 5 hours. In the second phase that follows the wet steeping phase, which is also referred to as dry steeping phase, and generally lasts for about 10 hours, the water is drained from the steeping cistern, wherein the water that was above the first floor of the double floor during the wet steeping phase flows through the perforations in the top floor of the double floor.
During the steeping process, the moisture content in the (living) grains increases, thereby accelerating the conversions into the grains necessary for sustaining life. In these conversions, starch compounds are enzymatically converted in water and carbon dioxide, for which purpose oxygen is additionally needed from the environment. During the wet steeping phase, the water is aerated to supply oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. In the dry steeping phase, the air between the grains is freshened through aeration, which expels carbon dioxide and supplies oxygen.
One important objection associated with using a flat steeping cistern with a double floor is the significant level of water consumption, since the double floor is of necessity filled with water during the wet steeping phase. The typical quantities that here play a role fill the double floor with about 300 m3 of water (rule of thumb: about 0.7 m3 per m2 of steeping cistern surface), wherein about 450 m3 of water is present above the top floor of the double floor during the wet steeping phase (rule of thumb: about 1 m3 per ton of barley). There are only a limited number of options for reducing the height of the double floor, since a minimum height is required to evacuate a sufficient amount of carbon dioxide from the mass of barley grains during the steeping phase. Another important objection associated with the use of known flat steeping cisterns is that cleaning it when no barley grains are present in the flat steeping cistern is very time consuming and work intensive, and there is a risk that contaminants will nonetheless remain behind, an undesirable prospect given the type of end product, specifically beer.